Originally Posted by
Rob_E
Sounds cool, but info seems sparse. It seems like it's first a hiking trail but with many sections being bike-accessible, and some being available for horseback riding. I wish they had broken out that info by miles. As in:
How many miles are bikeable?
How many miles are on roads?
How many miles are dirt/pavement/gravel?
For instance, when the trail goes through Ohio, it follows the Buckeye Trail through southern Ohio. I thought that most of the Buckeye Trail was off limit to bikes, but I see no reference to that on the American Discovery Trail website. Google Maps shows some bike paths in Ohio, but nothing running all the way across.
I love the idea of a coast-to-coast, off-road, bike route, but I wonder if the reason it's not more well known is because it's not really a viable bike route.
Yes, I can see it crosses the Sierra Nevada mostly on trails, most of which you'd never want to take a road bike on, much of which even a mountain bike would die on, and not to mention that bikes are banned on much of that route, such as the Pacific Crest Trail and those in wilderness areas. I imagine that you would find the same situation throughout its route in the West.